Safety wall socket connection and plug



E. F. TAYLOR 'SAFET Y WALL SOCKET CONNECTION AND PLUG Dec. 24, .1940.

Filed Sept. 28, 1939 INVENTOR. EDGERTON F TAYLOR 15 mm w afgz ATTORNEYS PM... D... 1940 v 2,226,148-

HUNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE t..sarz.w...1. I

Edgerton F. Taylor. New York, N. 'Y., assignor to Jack C. Lewis, New,, York, N.'YY. v i,

Application September 28, 1939 Serial No. 296,882 11 Claims. (01; 173 7-330) This invention relates toiwall sockets and plugs recesses 4. "The bottom of. the, socket body is for making electrical connections. v provided with recesses ll which-recesses termi- One object of the invention-isia novel andimnate at'the curved parts ll of the channels. proved socket and plug of the above indicated Theserecesses ll form a substantial continuation character, characterized by its safety features of the straight parts of the channels 10.; The 5 against shock, short circuit, etc. I width-of the recesses, H is substantially less than A further object of the invention is va. socket the width of the channels ill, Wand preferably of the above indicated character which is conf these channels are oblong in cross-section, as structed and provided with means for obviating shown in the drawing, with the longer dimension 10 the insertion of metallic objects other thancondispos'edinthe plane, of the channels, The plug 10 nectingplugs into contact with the socket t'er-' 2-isprovided'wlth prongsithaving any convenminals. V I tionalend I2 for. engaging and making contact 'A further objectof the invention is aplug of with the contact elements 5. These prongs I! the above indicated character which is readily are-,of any suitable spring resilientmetal which 1 usable either with the novel and improved socket Q permits theautomstlcnbendlng and flexing '01 ll of this invention or with the standardiltting; thegprongs whenv the plug'is inserted'ini position. A further object of the invention is a novelfl These prongs followthe curved channels glc, l0 and improved socket; and plug ofthetabove in-F'to. engage .the contacts 5 and, are of slightly dicated character which is characterized by the greater width thanthe recesses ll so'that the low cost inmanufa'cture. 7 ends ll'of theprongs follow. the channels and so Fora betterunderstanding of the invention silde easily over-the; recesses ll withoutvlentry reference may be had to the accompanying.drawtherein. Upon withdrawal of the plug, the resili 1 h i g 1 Y ent pronksspring back totheir parallel position, :Fig. 1 shows a side view ofa plugand' c: s' hownin Fig. ,:r eady.f0r insertloninthe tional view of a socket embodyingtheinvention; safety: socket shown in the drawings or. it may be 25 v Fig. 2 is. a sectional view..- along the line "2-4 I medal-With t x nven ional ,str aight channel of Fig.3;and q e socket. TheseDmngs; I? areprovidedwith an Fig. 3' is a sectional .view of the socket-along insulatinglayer- II which extends .apart way the lineI-iofFlgJ. I downtowards the terminals ,l 2".l This. insula- 80 Referring-to the drawing the socket ofimy intion I3 may-be of anysultable character ,as, for

vention isindicated generally bylthe numeral l A'exam'ple. rubber. g: andthe plug by the numeral '2. FIhe-socketi is With sockets of the character aboveset forth provided witha conventional flange plate) for it (is practically impossibletolnsert nails, hairattachment to a recess in a wall. The "socket pins'and other metallic objectsinto th'e'channels 36 body is formed with transverse recesses; formed Iii, J0 and into enga ement with the-electrical in the opposite sides thereof and adiacentvits contacts 5 because, upon the insertion of such inner edge. Electrical terminals I are disposed metallic elements, they would follow the recesses at the bottoms of these recessesv andare'carrled or channels ll whicharein alinementwith the by u-shaped metallic elements 8, the latter bestraight parts of the channels l0 instead of bend- 40 ing fastened to the socket body; in any suitable in'g around to make contact with the contacts]. 40 manner, as, for example, by thescrews 1. Each The socket, therefore, is safe against shocks orv of the members 8 isprovided with a screw ter-, 1 short circuits resulting from the insertion of such minal I for the attachment of electrical wire not metallic objects by children, and no closures or shown and recesses formed in the socket-body other obstructing means .is needed for the chanr are indicated for accommodating the screws 8. "nels ll. Moreover, by reason of the insulated 45 The recesses l extendto a point slightly beyond prongs II, at "the plug 2 may be partially withthe central line of the body of the socket, and drawn without any possibility of short circuit by channels II, for the reception of the plug terthe placing of ametallic object across the inminals or prongs, terminate at the inner ends of sulated parts ll of the prongs. Electrical conthese recesses l where the contact elements I are nection between the prongs l2 and contacts I is 50 located. These channels ll first extend in a di-' broken before the prongs are removed sumcient rection at right angles to the face of the socket 1y to expose the'uninsulated parts of prongs It. or surface of the wall to which the socket is at- The plug, as above-indicated, is universally usetached, but are provided with curved portions il' ful either with a safety socket of this invention which flare away from each other and enter the or with conventional straight channel plugs and both the plug and the socket may be manufactured on a quantity production basis at low cost. This special socket is also useful for a 220' volt or higher voltage circuit or other special circuit in a house or building where there is also a 110 volt or normal house lighting circuit. The high voltage or special devices would have attached thereto the special plug 2 of this application for use with the socket, while the plugs for the low voltage or standard circuit would be of the standard rigid prong construction which could not be inserted in the special socket.

I claim:

1. A combined socket and plug electrical connection, comprising a socket body having curved prong receiving channels and recesses in alinement with a part of said channels and a plug having resilient prongs adapted to follow the curved channels and to slide over said recesses without entry therein, said recesses and channels being formed with different cross sections and of a character to permit the prongs to follow the channels but to prevent entry thereof into the recesses and to permit metallic elements of a construction different from that of the prongs to enter said recesses, thereby preventing such elements from following the unaligned parts of the channels.

2. In a combined socket and electrical plug of the character set forth in claim 1, wherein the socket channels flare away from each other at their inner ends.

3. In a combined socket and electrical plug of the character set forth in claim 1, wherein said prongs are insulated for a portion of their length.

4. An electrical wall socket connection comprising a main body of insulated material, said body having a prong receiving channel leading to an electrical contact, said channel for a part of its length being substantially straight but formed with a curve intermediate its ends and a recess in said body forming a continuation of the straight part of said channel, said recess being of less width than the width of the channel.

5. In an electrical wall socket connection of the character set forth in claim 4, wherein a transverse recess is formed in the body and terminates at the inner end of said channel and an electrical contact terminal is disposed in said transverse recess.

6. In an electrical wall socket connection of the character set forth in claim 4, wherein a transverse recess is formed in the body and terminates at the inner end of said channel and an electrical contact terminal is disposed in said transverse recess, the said electrical terminal being carried by a U-shaped metallic member which passes from the transverse recess around to one side of the socket.

7. In an electrical wall socket connection of the character set forth in claim 4, wherein the recess is of oblong shape in cross-section with the longer dimension disposed in the plane of the curved channel.

8. In an electrical wall socket connection of the character set forth in claim 4, wherein the recess is of a shape in cross-section having a dimension longer than its width disposed in the plane of the curved channel.

9. The combination with a socket of an electrical wall socket connection oi. the character set forth in claim 4 with a plug terminal having a resilient prong adapted to follow said curved channel, said prong being of a width greater than the width of the recess.

10. A combined socket and plug electrical connection comprising a socket'body having a curved prong receiving channel and a recess in alinement with a part of said channel and a plug having a resilient prong adapted to follow the curved channel, said recess and said plug being of a character to permit the unobstructed inser tion of said resilient prong along said channel without entry into said recess, said recess and said channel being formed with different cross sections and of a character to permit the prong to follow the channel but to prevent the entry thereof into the recess and to permit metallic elements of a construction different from that of the prong to enter said recess thereby preventing such elements from following the unaligned part of the channel.

11. A combined socket and plug electrical connection comprising a socket body having curved prong receiving channels which diverge away from each other at their inner portions with contacts therein and the plug is usable in either said socket body or in a standard socket body and having resilient contact prongs adapted to follow the curved diverging channels, and said socket having means adjacent the inner portions of the channel for preventing metallic elements of a construction other than that of the prongs from engaging said contacts.

EDGERTON F. TAYLOR. 

